


What Would Rex Do?

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life, War Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-23 23:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8346244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Separated from the main group with an injured Captain, Ahsoka has to find a way to protect her men.





	

"How bad is it?"

Rex thought about telling her a lie. She was just a kid, even if she was growing up faster than any damned cadet he knew of.

"Bad enough, Commander." Rex shifted enough to let her see the swath of bandages that were already darkening with his blood. The wound hadn't penetrated deeply, thank the stars, but it had nicked something that would not stop bleeding.

"I tried—"

"You did, Commander. You got us down on the ground with a ship that shouldn't have even still been in mostly one piece after that hit we took." Rex offered her a smile, but it was weak. "If the General can get to us first, the men will be fine. Other than Tank, I'm the only one that's not walking wounded."

"If the Seppies get here first, it's not going to be good. We didn't have any heavier weapons in the drop ship, and only two men have the rapid pulse rifles," Ahsoka said, pushing herself to think of the assets, the advantages, and the disadvantages. Rex felt something like pride in her, even though that was ridiculous. She was a Jedi, even if only a padawan, and the General's student. She wasn't his, no matter how often they paired on these side missions.

"The General will come," Rex said firmly.

Ahsoka pushed up from beside him, jaw firming in a way that almost made him worry. "Rest, Rex. Listen to Dav, since I know Kix has been training him." She walked away from him, making a circuit of the small camp they had made with their backs to a bluff, some foliage for screen ahead, and the bluff itself overhanging them just enough to give aerial coverage. It wasn't the most defensible location, but it wasn't the worst either.

"Knack? Keep everyone in camp, keep your ears out. You're in charge until I get back," Ahsoka told the man quietly, startling him… but he was highest-ranked if the Captain was down.

"Sir, you shouldn't—"

"Knack, I don't like that word, and I am the Commander," she said with steel in her voice, and he subsided. "I expect to be back in twenty, maybe twenty-five minutes at most." With that, she left the camp, keeping as low a profile as she could, scouting the area, trying to discover if there was a better place to move everyone to, or how close the Seppies might be.

If they were lucky, no one noticed the ship actually make it down. If they weren't, she knew good and well her master was too far away to rescue them quickly enough.

Once she had enough distance from the camp, she gave herself over to the more natural hunting skills of her people, praying her montrals were developed enough to let this work. She called out in trills that rang in the upper register, and listened for the bounce. She hoped it would give her a picture of the landscape she couldn't see, let her 'hear' the metal of droids if any were close enough to register as a threat to her men. She repeated herself several times, listening intently, until one echoing call broke differently than the rest had. That was the direction she moved in, staying low in her run, using the lay of the land and the foliage available to hopefully remain hidden from any eyes and optical sensors scanning in her direction.

The elation at being proven right was tempered by recognizing the threat she found, as she saw a squad of B1 droids marching from their own downed ship. That was one piece of satisfaction; her gunner had forced them down after they had taken that crippling shot to the thrusters.

Head-count said her men, not counting Tank or Rex, were outnumbered two to one. Those weren't terrible odds, but the problem would be if they marked out the camp and called in reinforcements. Could she lead the able-bodied men, minus their acting medic and at least one other, to ambush this group and dispose of them quickly enough to handle that?

She inspected the way the land sloped, the vegetation, and smiled.

She had a plan.

+++

Sixteen against six, plus a half-grown padawan, would have been slaughter, in some circumstances. However, Ahsoka had been smart. When she had calculated where they would intercept the group at, she had noticed it should put the droids on lower ground than where her men would come from. 

Droid poppers were an excellent device for producing confusion when twelve of the things pitched in and rolled around the feet of a squadron being led solely by a B1 lieutenant.

She let the squad open fire immediately, then took a page from her master's book, by attacking from an angle that was not where the main fire was coming from. Knack was going to probably have a small meltdown later, as the 501st Padawan Commander pulled off a flanking maneuver all on her own, lightsabers swinging in a brilliant dance of violence. 

All told, the battle had taken less than two full minutes, and she was almost positive the droids had not processed the need to call for aid quickly enough.

+++

Back aboard the _Resolute_ , Ahsoka sat on the edge of Rex's bed, ignoring propriety and protocol, because he'd never really looked as pale as he had by the time they were picked up. 

"Quit worrying, Commander; Kix said I was too stubborn to die that time."

She smiled at him for that, then took a deep breath. "I'm ordering you to always be that stubborn then."

Rex snorted, then focused on her face. "You know I would have argued your plan, if I hadn't already passed out when you came to camp."

"Knack argued. I shot him down again." She shrugged. "I don't see why you would have though. Because all I did was ask myself 'what would Rex do', and it all fell into place. Well, except the lightsabers. You know, that's all me."

Rex considered that, then sighed. "Have to admit, yes, that's what I would have done. Scout, and set the battle in terrain of my choosing."

"See? Next time, you'll just have to not be injured so you can argue with me and then give in, because you know you would do it too." She grinned, then bounced off his bed. "Get better, Rexter. I can't keep Skyguy in check all on my own, you know!" With that, she left to check on Tank and the rest of the injured from Anakin's troops.

Rex just smiled, softly, proud of her, even if it wasn't his place.


End file.
